NATURAL DYES: AN EMERGING ECOFRIENDLY SOLUTION FOR TEXTILE INDUSTRIESKARUNA SINGH, PANKAJ KUMAR AND N.V. SINGHAbstract Natural dyes are derived from natural sources like plants, animals, minerals and microorganism. Natural dyes are sustainable as they are renewable and biodegradable and also fulfill the huge demand of textile industry. In India, an average mill producing 60x104 m/day of fabrics likely to discharge, approximately 1.5 million liter/day of effluent. Excessive use of these synthetic dyes in textile industry may lead to serious health hazards and disturbances in eco-balance of nature. The associated toxicity, carcinogenicity and allergic reactions of the synthetic dyes have raised an interest in natural dyes which are clinically safer, disease free, non-polluting and biodegradable. Present review highlights sources of dyes, classification of dyes, and properties of some common natural dyes are discussed. |